I've started carrying my bikes (steel) in and out of the house by the seat stays recently. It's just the easiest way I've found to keep the bike at the right height, and close to my body as I'm maneuvering through doors and around corners, up and down stairs. But, I do feel a little flex while I'm doing this. There's no way I'm going to flex the seat stays to the point of bending right?

If the stays/frame are not cracked/broken the chances of bending the stays in the manner you suggest are about the same as being bitten by a shark in Nevada, not going to happen. If you fell down the stairs with it that's a different matter.

__________________"The older I get the better I was" (from Old Guys Rule t-shirt)

Seriously, I have evaluated potential shop hires by how they handle a bike. Not riding it but how the move it around, up and down the shop geography. You can tell a lot about the person's attiude about stuff by how they touch and manuvure it. Andy.